The Odyssey

The Odyssey is a classic epic written by Homer. In my opinion, it is one of the best epics I have ever read. I will now try to prove how this story speaks to us in the twenty-first century. Some may think that The Odyssey is an old-fashioned story, but I will now prove otherwise.

The values of trust, courage, and discipline in The Odyssey are extremely high and valuable to Odysseus. Just being in war you must trust your neighbors and your men. Furthermore, even though Odysseus trusted his men not to touch the bag of winds they did, in spite of that. Telemachus had the courage to stand up to the suitors. The sirens were able to break people's discipline with their singing. Now in our day you still must have trust, courage, and discipline.

Family values which are still extremely important were showed throughout The Odyssey.

Odysseus and Nausicaä by Charles Gleyre (19th cen...

ODYSSEUS karnavires 51

Mnêstêrophonía: slaughter of the suitors by Ody...

Even though Odysseus was gone for twenty years he still somewhat loved his wife Penelope. The son of Odysseus, Telemachus has been looking to restore his family with Odysseus. The gods were like a family together. In our society today we put a strong emphasis on family values, but television and movies totally negate these values.

In The Odyssey we see a strong showing of courtesy and respect to others.

It is a custom of Zeus to show hospitality to guests. We saw by Polyphemus that he did not have courtesy or respect. Penelope wished to respect the dead by weaving a shroud for them. In the entire book respect or the lack of it plays a tremendous part in the plot. Nowadays, all everybody cares about is respect. Most people now really do not respect each other and I think it is a disgrace.

In conclusion, I would...